Welcome to GVI's Rainforest Conservation and Community Development project blog where you can keep up to date with all the happenings and information from the Ecuadorian Amazon

Global Vision International (GVI) is a non-political, non-religious organisation, which through its alliance with over 150 project partners in over 30 countries, provides opportunities for volunteers to fill a critical void in the fields of environmental research, conservation, education and community development.

Facts and figures

Created a species list (inventory) for the Yachana Reserve reaching over 750 different species including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and butterflies, amongst other invertebrates and it continues to grow every phase

National Scholarship Program offering scholarships to Amazon students from the Yachana Technical High School to study English, conservation and field techniques alongside GVI volunteers at our base camp. Over 60 students have participated since the start of the program, with many achieving advanced levels of English, and some even receiving scholarships to study in the US and return to Yachana as bilingual naturalist guides

In September 2008 GVI Amazon found an individual of Hyalinobatrachium iaspidiense, a rare glass frog that until recently was thought to only be endemic to the Guayana Region of Venezuela. Prior to this find it was thought to only reside in one other locality within Ecuador further north in the Succumbios region

Over 2500 hours of English and environmental lessons taught to local community schools

Share this blog

Become a fan of our blog!

The End of an Era

After over 6 years of intensive research and community development work in and around the Yachana Reserve, GVI Amazon is coming to a close. We have finished our final research project (look forward to our Road Effects paper, coming soon!) and are handing over the project to our partner, The Yachana Foundation. They will continue to maintain and monitor the reserve, using it as an hands-on science education center for students -- we're very excited to see what fabulous things this next generation of scientists find! For more detail on GVI Amazon's closure, and our accomplishments over the years, please read on...GVI Amazon Closure Statement

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Ever since announcing I was leaving to live in the jungle for six months, I was met with comments such as “You? In the jungle? Are you sure you can cope? Girls aren’t usually very good at that sort of thing.” And “Wow, you’re gonna be, like, REALLY dirty. And smelly. ALL the time.” Not forgetting of course: “What?? In the jungle?! Think about all the tarantulas! And snakes! You’ll never last – rather you than me!”

Initially, I brushed these remarks off – I’ve always been independent, relatively hardy, not too squeamish – I definitely wouldn’t class myself as a ‘girly girl’. Me, in the jungle? Piece of cake...

But then doubt started to set in – what if...I couldn’t cope with the jungle critters...without my home comforts? I couldn’t honestly say that if I found a ten inch tarantula in my bed that I wouldn’t run screaming out of camp, never to be seen again. I figured I’d have to wait and see...

So, eight weeks into my GVI Amazon internship, and how am I coping? Well, so far I’ve had giant katydids stuck in my hair, had wild tamarins jump all over me, had a two foot earthworm slithering around my neck, been chased by swarms of wasps, seen a coral snake next to the toilets, dodged a fer-de-lance outside our dorms, walked head first into about 1000 spider webs, had ants in my pants (literally), dodged hairy caterpillars on toilet seats, face planted muddy trails numerous times, macheted my way through dense forest, and scaled ravines - all whilst being extremely dirty, smelly and sweaty. No tarantulas in my bed to date yet, but I’m sure if it happens, I’ll cope. Hell, I might even pick it up and play with it...

And you know what? I’m loving every minute of it. So to all those who said I couldn’t do it: I’d rather me than you too. Bring on more jungle times!

0
comments:

GVI Charitable Trust

Support education in the Amazon through the GVI Amazon Charitable Trust. Sponsored projects include environmental education for children, biodiversity monitoring for indigenous students, and youth-led reforestation programs in Amazon communities.

GVI Amazon Best Posts

Quotes from the field

"These are the voyages of the GVI Enterprise.Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds… To seek out new amphibian life; new civilizations… To boldly go where no man has gone before… The source of the stream!" Amy Hill, January - March 2009

"The forest is always alive; this is why it is called the Amazon and not the Amazoff" Alan Rea, January - March 2009,